1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an e-mail apparatus for simultaneously transmitting one e-mail to a plurality of recipients, an internet facsimile apparatus for simultaneously transmitting one e-mail to a plurality of recipients, and an e-mail communication system for simultaneously transmitting one e-mail to a plurality of recipients.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, e-mail has come into widespread use in a personal computer (PC). In PC, a destination setting of the e-mail is carried out using a mailer. More specifically, an address of a main destination of the mail is described in a field [To:] showing a destination of a mail header. Also, an address of simultaneous transmission destination is described in a field [Cc:] showing a simultaneous transmission destination. The input to these fields is manually performed by an operator arbitrarily.
For transmitting one e-mail to a plurality of addresses, a plurality of addresses is described in the field [To:] or field [Cc:]. In this case, since these fields are included in the mail header of the received e-mail, the recipient can know to whom the same mail is simultaneously transmitted.
In order to keep the simultaneous transmission secret, the simultaneous transmission destination can be described in the field including a field [Bcc] of the mail header. This address is called secret simultaneous transmission destination. A mail server replicates the mail and distributes it to the address described in field [Bcc:]. However, the field [Bcc:] is deleted by the mail server. As a result, the recipient can know the address of the destination and the simultaneous transmission destination, but cannot know the secret simultaneous transmission destination.
However, in the mailer that operates on the general PC, an operator must set the address to any one of the field [To:], filed [Cc:], or field [Bcc:]. For this reason, if there is a large number of transmission destinations, it is necessary to set the destination, simultaneous transmission destination, or secret simultaneous transmission destination (hereinafter referred to as transfer-attribute) for each address. In this reason, much time and effort are necessary to transmit one e-mail to a plurality of addresses.
There is an internet facsimile apparatus for receiving and transmitting image data by an e-mail over a computer network such as internet. Unlike the general PC, such an e-mail apparatus of a non-PC is operated by a control panel having only a 10-button keypad and function keys without providing a keyboard and a mouse. The task for setting the transfer-attribute to the address becomes more complicated and brings about unfavorable operability. As a result, there is a case in which the operator causes an error in setting the transfer-attribute to the address.
A first object of the present invention is to provide an e-mail apparatus, which can simply set a transfer-attribute to a plurality of addresses so as to easily carry out an e-mail simultaneous transmission.
A second object of the present invention is to provide an internet facsimile apparatus, which can simply set a transfer-attribute to a plurality of addresses so as to easily carry out an e-mail simultaneous transmission.
A third object of the present invention is to provide an e-mail communication method, which can simply set a transfer-attribute to a plurality of addresses so as to easily carry out an e-mail simultaneous transmission.
The above objects are achieved by an e-mail apparatus for simultaneously transmitting an e-mail to a plurality of destinations, having: inputting means for inputting an address of the e-mail; and destination setting means, when a plurality of addresses is input through the inputting means, for setting a first address of the plurality of addresses to a destination and addresses including and after a second address to a secret simultaneous transmission destination, respectively.
The above objects are achieved by an e-mail apparatus for simultaneously transmitting an e-mail to a plurality of destinations, having: inputting means for inputting an address of the e-mail; and destination setting means, when a plurality of addresses is input through the inputting means, for setting a default address and the plurality of addresses to a destination and a secret simultaneous transmission destination, respectively.
The above objects are achieved by an e-mail apparatus for simultaneously transmitting an e-mail to a plurality of destinations, having: inputting means for inputting an address of the e-mail; transfer-attribute designate means for designating transfer-attribute of any one of a destination, a non-secret simultaneous transmission destination, a secret simultaneous transmission destination to the address input by the inputting means; and destination setting means for setting the address to any one of the destination, the non-secret simultaneous transmission destination, and the secret simultaneous transmission destination in accordance with the designated transfer-attribute.
The above objects are achieved by an e-mail apparatus for simultaneously transmitting an e-mail to a plurality of destinations, having: inputting means for inputting an address of the e-mail; a table including the address corresponded to any one of transfer-attributes of a destination, a non-secret simultaneous transmission destination, and a secret simultaneous transmission destination; and destination setting means for setting the address to any one of the destination, the non-secret simultaneous transmission destination, and the secret simultaneous transmission destination in accordance with the transfer-attribute corresponding to the address input from the inputting means with reference to the table.
The above objects are achieved by an Internet facsimile apparatus for transmitting an image on Internet or a local area network by use of an e-mail having: scanning means for scanning an image to obtain image data; converting means for converting the image data to an e-mail; inputting means for inputting an address of the e-mail; and destination setting means, when a plurality of addresses is input through the inputting means, for setting a first address of the plurality of addresses to a destination and addresses including and after a second address to a secret simultaneous transmission destination, respectively.
The above objects are achieved by an internet facsimile apparatus for transmitting an image on the Internet or a local area network by use of an e-mail having: scanning means for scanning an image to obtain image data; converting means for converting the image data to an e-mail; inputting means for inputting an address of the e-mail; and destination setting means, when a plurality of addresses is input through the inputting means, for setting a default address and the plurality of addresses to a destination and a secret simultaneous transmission destination, respectively.
The above objects are achieved by an internet facsimile apparatus for transmitting an image on Internet or a local area network by use of an e-mail having: scanning means for scanning an image to obtain image data; converting means for converting the image data to an e-mail; inputting means for inputting an address of the e-mail; transfer-attribute designate means for designating transfer-attribute of any one of a destination, a non-secret simultaneous transmission destination, a secret simultaneous transmission destination to the address input by the inputting means; and destination setting means for setting the address to any one of the destination, the non-secret simultaneous transmission destination, the secret simultaneous transmission destination in accordance with the designated transfer-attribute.
The above objects are achieved by an internet facsimile apparatus for transmitting an image on Internet or a local area network by use of an e-mail having: scanning means for scanning an image to obtain image data; converting means for converting the image data to an e-mail; inputting means for inputting an address of the e-mail; a table including the address corresponded to any one of transfer-attributes of a destination, a non-secret simultaneous transmission destination, a secret simultaneous transmission destination; and destination setting means for setting the address to any one of the destination, the non-secret simultaneous transmission destination, the secret simultaneous transmission destination in accordance with the transfer-attribute corresponding to the address input from the inputting means with reference to the table.
The above objects are achieved by an e-mail communication method for simultaneously transmitting an e-mail to a plurality of destinations, having: setting a first address of a plurality of addresses to a destination and addresses including and after a second address to a secret simultaneous transmission destination, respectively when the plurality of addresses is input; and transmitting the e-mail on the Internet or a local area network.
The above objects are achieved by e-mail communication method for simultaneously transmitting an e-mail to a plurality of destinations, having: setting a default address and a plurality of addresses to a destination and a secret simultaneous transmission destination, respectively when the plurality of addresses is input; and transmitting the e-mail on the Internet or a local area network.
The above objects are achieved by an e-mail communication method for simultaneously transmitting an e-mail to a plurality of destinations, having: designating transfer-attribute of any one of a destination, a non-secret simultaneous transmission destination, a secret simultaneous transmission destination to the address of the e-mail; and transmitting the e-mail on the Internet or a local area network. The above objects are achieved by an e-mail communication method for simultaneously transmitting an e-mail to a plurality of destinations, comprising: setting an address to any one of a destination, a non-secret simultaneous transmission destination, a secret simultaneous transmission destination in accordance with a transfer-attribute corresponding to the input address with reference to a table including the address corresponded to any one of transfer-attributes of the destination, the non-secret simultaneous transmission destination, the secret simultaneous transmission destination; and transmitting the e-mail on the Internet or a local area network.
The present invention makes it possible to carry out simultaneous transmission by a simple operation without recipient""s knowing the simultaneous transmission destination.